Elgar Parishad Case: SC Directs Gautam Navlakha To Deposit Rs 8 Lakh As Expense For Police Protection During House Arrest

Left wing activist Gautam Navlakha, currently under house arrest in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, has been directed by the Supreme Court on Friday (28 April) to pay an additional Rs 8 lakh for the provision of police personnel for his security.

In November 2022, the apex court had ordered Navlakha's house arrest and directed him to deposit Rs 2.4 lakh as the expenses to be borne by the state for making available police personnel to effectively facilitate placing the petitioner under house arrest.

The direction by a bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna was passed after Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju submitted that a total bill of Rs 66 lakh was pending, reports The Indian Express.

ASG Raju has also been directed by the top court to respond within two weeks to Navlakha’s plea seeking to be shifted from the public library in Mumbai, where he is under house arrest in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to some alternate place in the city as the public library needed to be vacated.

On Navlakha's request to walk for 45 minutes, Raju said he would seek instructions. The ASG said even the police personnel are forced to walk with him.

The apex court remarked, "Instructions for walk. He is doing them a favour. They will become more trim. Most are out of shape otherwise."

On 10 November, Navlakha, who was then lodged in Navi Mumbai's Taloja prison, was allowed by the top court to be placed under house arrest due to his declining health.

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on 31 December 2017, which police claim triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the city.